Pakistan's military has initiated intelligence-driven operations in the southwestern province of Balochistan, following a series of attacks by insurgents that resulted in the deaths of over 50 individuals this week, according to a statement from the country's army on Friday.
Ethnic Baloch insurgents conducted a coordinated series of assaults on various civilian and military targets earlier this week. The army reported that it responded by eliminating 21 militants. On Monday, separatist militants targeted police stations, railway lines, and vehicles on highways in Balochistan, causing at least 39 fatalities, officials stated on the same day, marking one of the most extensive attacks by ethnic insurgents in recent years.
Militants have been engaged in a protracted ethnic insurgency demanding the secession of the resource-rich southwestern province, which is home to several significant China-led projects including a strategic port and a gold and copper mine. Balochistan, bordering both Iran and Afghanistan, is Pakistan's largest province in terms of area but is the least populated and remains largely underdeveloped, characterized by high levels of poverty.
